


Zim's Defect

by Risitka



Category: Invader Zim
Genre: AU, Enemies to Lovers, M/M, One Shot, powerful Zim
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-09
Updated: 2020-06-09
Packaged: 2021-03-04 06:07:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,535
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24629020
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Risitka/pseuds/Risitka
Summary: Everything thinks Zim is defective and bad at his job. Well, he is defective.Dib finds out more than he ever thought he would.
Relationships: Dib/Zim (Invader Zim)
Comments: 11
Kudos: 68





	Zim's Defect

**Author's Note:**

> I have not watched Invader Zim in ages. Just as an aside.

Standing among the rubble of Zim’s latest foiled plan Dib smirked, feeling in his pocket for the taser he had brought. He had gotten it just for this. He hesitated for a moment, counting on Zim to wait for him to make a move like usual. Did he really want to do this? He didn’t really want to hurt Zim, but he needed to stop him, right? Sure, his plans weren’t too damaging anymore, but they were still happening. He glanced at the alien, who was lazily watching Dib and not really paying attention. Dib’s grip tightened, suddenly irritated. Zim obviously didn’t think Dib would win if he wasn’t even trying to attack. Holding onto that thought Dib pulled out the taser and shot it at Zim, expecting him to dodge. Zim really wasn’t paying attention though and got hit right in the chest, jerking badly as the current affected his Pak too, causing him to slump onto the ground unconscious. Dib waited a second before going over, stuffing the taser back into his pocket. He couldn’t believe it. He had won. Well… not yet. He picked Zim up and took him to his house, laying him on the bed before grabbing a few tools and pulling a chair over. He nervously opened one of the ports on Zim’s Pak and began to carefully disable the Pak legs. He was almost done when Zim began to stir, stilling once he realized where Dib was. Dib closed up the Pak and backed up as Zim rolled over. With a smile Dib held up a small remote.  
“Don’t try anything. I’ve installed a bomb in your Pak. Now you have to stop trying to take over Earth. Don’t try and remove it either. Only I can do that without setting it off.” It was a lie. There was no bomb but, he needed some kind of leverage to get Zim to stop from attacking both him and Earth.  
Zim just stared at Dib for a while before realizing that he couldn’t use his Pak legs anymore either. A sense of betrayal filled him. Did Dib not enjoy their time together? Was he going to be experimented on now too? Dib watched Zim think for a moment, feeling uncomfortable with his lie. He shook the feeling off, stood, and opened the door; telling Zim he could go home now.  
Zim hesitated, contemplating killing Dib. He didn’t want to though and it wouldn’t solve the problem now anyway. So instead he forced himself up, wincing slightly from where the taser had hit, and slowly made his way out of Dib’s house and down the street back to his base. Once inside he sat numbly on the couch, not even bothered as Gir hugged him before turning back to the TV. Unmotivated and in shock he stayed sitting there for the entire week.

Dib shifted nervously outside of Zim’s base. He was unnerved by Zim not showing up to School the past week, especially since they only had one more left before graduating. It was unlike the alien and Dib was desperately hoping it wasn’t because of him. He just wanted to protect the Earth! Zim was an obstacle for that and he shouldn’t be feeling guilty for stopping… What exactly? Dib went over Zim’s past plans, failing to see how Zim could have succeeded. He had even seemed to get worse these past few years. Most of his inventions weren’t too hard to stop, and Dib even got out with less injuries than before. He shook his head as he started to wonder if Zim was even actually trying. He barely managed to knock once before the door was swung open and Gir was jumping on him.  
“HI MARY!”  
“Uh, Hi Gir. Where…” He peeked inside to see Zim just sitting on the couch. Putting Gir down he went over and sat on the other end of the couch. “Zim?” No reaction. “Come on Zim. You’ve missed a week of school you know. We’re graduating next week remember?” Zim turned to stare blankly at Dib before sighing.  
“So what? Are you going to make me go back?”  
“Make you? Wha-what?”  
“You put a bomb in me Dib… I can’t really go against you if I ever want it out. Or for it to not be activated.” Zim said softly, looking at the ground instead. Dib didn’t say anything and looked down as well. After a moment Zim decided he didn’t like the silence. “Zim thought you were enjoying the battles.” He barely whispered, but Dib heard him clearly.  
“What? Enjoyed fighting all the time? Why would I enjoy that?! I’m just protecting the planet from you!”  
“You like to do that.” Zim finally looked back at Dib curiously. “Will you remove the bomb if Zim promises to stop?”  
“I… I’d have to actually believe you for that.”  
“Of course…” He replied snidely. “My Pak legs then?”  
“Now I know you’d use that against me.” Dib smiled, trying to joke. “I don’t really want stabbed to death.” In a flash Zim was on top of him, a hand on his throat. He glared at Dib, pinning him easier than Dib thought he could.  
“If I wanted you dead Dib. You would be.” He snarled in Dib’s ear, voice low. Dib shivered and stared into the ruby eyes. He’d never been this scared of Zim before. And then Zim was back to his side of the couch again. Dib stayed laying there for a moment before sitting back up to stare at Zim again. Zim was back to staring at the floor.  
“Um…” Dib started, wanting nothing more than to make this better. He paused before deciding to just tell the truth and deal with the fallout. He wasn’t sure why, but he wanted Zim still in his life. Just… not as his enemy. “Zim-“ He was cut off as the computer beeped and Zim looked up as the TV screen turned on to show an Irken ship.  
“Unknown vessel detected. Estimated arrival time one hour.” Dib stared at the screen in confusion, almost jumping when Zim pulled out a tablet and the image changed to text. Dib frowned at the Irken letters, wishing he could understand it. Zim smiled at the human’s frustration.  
“It’s statistics. Zim has scanned the ship to see who it is.” He frowned suddenly and finished reading the screen. “Do you want to know?”  
“Yes.”  
“Remove the bomb and reactivate my Pak legs then.” Dib rolled his eyes.  
“Why do you even need the Pak legs? You’re not as short anymore, and apparently you can pin me without them.”  
“Why do you need both arms? Only one should work, right?” Zim scowled and got up, heading to the elevator to go down to the labs. “If you’re not going to fix this then why are you here? Just to gloat?” There was a crash from outside and Zim glared at the ceiling. “COMPUTER! You said an hour!”  
The computer hummed back on. “They sped up. Must’ve noticed you checking.” Zim paused at the info.  
“But… No one takes Zim seriously enough for that.” He looked back at Dib. “Stay here and don’t open the door.” With that he got in the elevator, heading down to the lab. He went and covered himself in paste since the forecast said there was a chance for rain. He hoped this visitor was just here to mock his ‘progress’ but the fact that they had sped up to get here had him concerned. He was about to go back up when he thought back to Dib. The human had looked uncomfortable whenever Zim brought up the bomb. Maybe… “Computer, run a scan on my Pak.” A tube snaked down and connected to his Pak and Zim tensed for a moment in case the bomb went off from it. After a moment it disconnected and Zim checked the results, eyes narrowing as he checked it over. With a scowl he returned upstairs. His anger was short lived however when he noticed the front door blown open and Dib missing. Zim ran outside to see Dib restrained with a laser to his head. Zim stopped and look over the Irken holding the laser, his eyes glancing over the other three standing nearby.  
“Hello again Zim.” The one next to Dib spat out. Zim’s antennae twitched.  
“Who are you? What’s going on?”  
“I came here to get rid of you. You’re too much of a threat to the Empire.”  
“A threat? Zim is a mighty Invader serving the Empire!”  
“Don’t lie! I know better! Everyone thinks it was all an accident, but I saw you! I was there when you blew half the planet and killed all those soldiers!” The intruder’s eyes narrowed. “You knew exactly what you were doing.” Zim tilted his head slightly, the picture of innocence.  
“Eh? Zim has done no such thing. Zim doesn’t even know you!” The grip on the laser tightened and Dib glanced over in concern. None of this made sense to him. Was Zim being blamed for something? Or was he actually that destructive?  
“My name is Zita. And you had better behave or I’ll kill your pet.” She glanced at the other Irkens and they began to close in on Zim. Dib suddenly really regretted disabling the Pak legs. He didn’t want to see Zim hurt much less killed. He was going to look away when Zim sighed, his entire demeaner changing in an instant. Beside him Zita tensed.  
“It’s unfortunate that I don’t have my Pak legs available. This is going to be much more difficult to clean up.” Zim said, locking eyes with the girl and smiling before dodging the attacks of the others. He moved faster than they attacked and within moments had his hands around one of their necks, snapping it easily as he reached down to remove the Pak so he couldn’t be healed. Before the other two could stop him he had done the same to another while slicing the last in half. Zim wasn’t even out of breath. Dib watched this in shock, the words from earlier floating in his head. _‘If I wanted you dead’_  
Zita pushed the laser closer to Dib when Zim turned back to her. “Stop or the human dies.”  
“What makes you think I care about him?”  
“He was in your base!”  
“True. I’m surprised you’re not assisting him. He managed to capture me once and is the reason I can’t use my Pak legs.” Thunder rolled overhead and Zita glanced at the sky curiously before looking back at Dib.  
“Quite a feat… Perhaps he’d be useful…”  
“Or…” Zim smiled at the girl as it began to rain. Lightly for now and Zim was glad for the paste so he didn’t have to react.  
“Or what?”  
"You could join me.” Zim’s voice stayed calm, and suddenly Dib wished he would go back to speaking in third person. This version of Zim was terrifying.  
“Join you?!”  
“Yes. You’re ambitious. I bet the Tallest don’t even know you’re here. You even got others as cannon fodder. I can appreciate that. We could take over the Massive with that. We could rule.”  
“What makes you think I would trust you?” Zim shrugged rolling his arms comfortably as it began to rain harder. He needed to hurry this up before the paste began to wear off. Zita was still standing under an overhang and dry.  
“You’re still alive, aren’t you? Your only protection is a human that managed to put a bomb in my Pak.”  
“A… bomb?” Zita’s hand shook slightly as the implications ran through her mind.  
“Yes. So I would be more than happy to watch him suffer. Hmm… Actually, that might be a good way for you to prove yourself. Make the human suffer.” He waved a hand through the air. “This weather is distasteful to humans. While it feels nice to my skin, humans stay indoors and hide from it.” Zim could see Zita’s resolve crumbling as her supposed options dwindled. She didn’t want to die, and she couldn’t kill Zim without leverage. “Well Zita? I think I’ve been more than patient with you. Either torture the human by dragging him through this rain, or I suppose wait for me to kill you. Which will it be?” Dib watched with fascination as Zim lied so smoothly. He watched for a while until Zita put away her laser and grabbed Dib, tossing him into the rain. He squirmed, hoping to play his part. Satisfied with the act Zita strode confidently out, instantly getting drenched. Within seconds she was on the ground screaming as she burned. Zim moved quickly, going over and knocking her out before carrying her into his base. He came out seconds later with a knife and cut through Dib’s bonds. Once done he held a hand out to help Dib up. Slowly Dib accepted the help, noticing the smoke starting to rise off the alien. They hurried inside and the door slammed behind them. Zim instantly pulled off his shirt and threw it into a corner as he grabbed a blanket to wipe off the water. Dib stood awkwardly by the door before sighing.  
“I’m… I’m sorry Zim.”  
“Eh?” Zim glanced back at Dib in confusion.  
“I shouldn’t have disabled your Pak legs. And…” The words stuck in his throat. After a moment of struggling he felt a hand on his arm. Zim led him over to the couch and pushed him on it, sitting down as well.  
“Not having them is rather annoying. Zim prefers using them over climbing counters to get to the higher cabinets." He smiled at Dib’s shocked face. “They would’ve made saving you easier too.” Dib didn’t smile back, suddenly feeling overwhelming guilt.  
“I lied about the bomb… I’m so sorry…”  
“Zim knows.”  
“What?!”  
“Zim scanned his Pak while in the lab. You are quite cruel to lie about that.” Dib squirmed before staring directly at Zim.  
“Why haven’t you killed me? You’re obviously able to! And you could’ve let her… Zita kill me! After what I did… I don’t understand.” He looked away again, burying his head in his hands.  
“… Zim said he didn’t want to kill you.”  
“But why?! Have you ever even wanted to take over Earth?!”  
“No.” Dib looked up sharply at the simple answer, staring at Zim in shock as the alien smiled at him. “No one wants this planet Dib. The Tallest sent Zim here to be rid of me. They’re scared of Zim, but don’t want to admit it so they created this fake mission to try and keep me busy.”  
“But you could’ve…” Zim waved a hand nonchalantly.  
“Yes, but why should I? Zim holds no loyalty to those idiots and…” He sighed, whispering the last part “I like Earth better than Irk…” Dib stared for a moment, trying to wrap his head around everything and failing. He groaned and leaned back.  
“I… I know I’ll have more questions later… But I need to know… Why don’t you want to kill me? If I were you… I’d want someone like me out of the way.” Zim was silent for a moment before standing and grabbing Dib’s hand, pulling him up as well and leading him to the elevator.  
“Fix my Pak now.”  
It was quiet as Dib reactivated the Pak legs, careful not to hit anything that could make them shoot out immediately. It was a bit more difficult than disabling them was and he was nervous. When he finally finished Zim sat up and looked over at Dib as if deciding something.  
“Do you really want to know?”  
“What?”  
“Why Zim doesn’t want you dead.”  
“Oh…” Dib rubbed the back of his head. “I mean… Yeah. It just doesn’t make any-“ He was cut off as Zim grasped his shirt and pulled him down, pressing their lips together forcefully. Dib froze in shock as Zim kissed him for only a second longer before pulling back and looking down with slumped shoulders.  
“Zim has wanted to do that for a while…” He stood and disappeared down a hallway, leaving Dib to go back upstairs alone.

It was two hours later when Zim came back upstairs, jumping slightly at the sight of Dib sitting on the couch. He stared at the human until Dib smiled, breaking Zim from his trance.  
“You’re still here… Zim thought you would have left after…” He glanced away, not bothering to look up when Dib came over next to him.  
“Why would I leave? I wouldn’t be able to kiss you back then.” Zim’s head snapped up in time for Dib to lean down and capture his lips. Zim’s eyes slid closed at the feeling and eagerly kissed back, opening his mouth slightly when Dib’s tongue ran over his lip. When they finally pulled apart Dib rested his forehead against Zim’s and smiled. “I like this much better than fighting.” He chuckled and Zim finally pulled away with his own laugh.  
“If I knew you’d have a positive response Zim would have kissed you months ago!” Dib chuckled again and reached out to pull the Irken into a hug.  
“What now? What are you going to tell your Tallest when they check in on you? And you didn’t kill Zita so what happens with her?" Dib frowned suddenly and pulled away to glance at the sunlight streaming through the windows. The rain had stopped an hour ago. “The mess from earlier… Someone’s gonna notice that!” Zim put a hand on Dib’s shoulder to calm him down.  
“Gir cleaned it up, don’t worry. Don’t ask how he did, but don’t worry.” He sighed and pulled Dib to the couch, leaning his head against Dib’s shoulder. “As for Zita… I went through her Pak to erase her memories of this. She won’t remember even coming to Earth, or seeing me all those years ago.”  
“Wait… Zim… Was she telling the truth? Did you really kill half of your own planet?” Zim shifted slightly, not wanting to scare Dib more.  
“Well…” He sighed and decided to just tell the truth. “Yes… I also ended up killing the previous two Tallest and shut down the control brains when they tried to deactivate me for it. Which is why everyone believes it was an accident and why they sent me so far away. They couldn’t just deactivate me and it scares them.” Dib was quiet for a moment, shifting and put an arm around Zim. This information was terrifying, but made sense with how Zim was at the same time.  
“So… It really wasn’t an accident. You killed them on purpose? Why?” He needed to know there was a reason.  
“Dib… You’re already scared.”  
“Am not!”  
“Really? Watching me kill three Irkens without the use of my Pak and manipulate the only one with sense into burning herself so I could knock her out easier didn’t frighten you at all?”  
“… Well… Yeah. It did… But I dunno… I’m not scared of you anyway…” Zim looked up at the human curiously. Dib smiled lightly down at him, dropping his head down for a quick kiss. “I know you’re not going to hurt me. I think I’ve known that for a while.”  
“I hurt you last week with that… chicken machine thing.”  
“Barely. You stopped when I tripped, and didn’t even really fight me…” Dib sighed again. “I shouldn’t have tased you. It wasn’t fair. I-I knew you weren’t going to actually hurt me… And I could’ve guessed-“  
“Dib.” Zim moved to sit on his lap, grabbing Dib’s face to look at him. “I am not angry with you for trying to win against me. I’m not even angry about the bomb since you didn’t actually plant one. And you already fixed the Pak legs. We’ve been fighting for years Dib-stink. I can’t fault you for trying to defeat the Mighty Zim.” He gently kissed the other before resting his head against Dib’s chest, his antennae resting there as well to listen to his heartbeat. “I killed them because they were stupid. The Tallest were going to run the Empire into the ground with their plans. My way actually killed less than what they were going to do. And as idiotic as the current Tallest can be, they aren’t too bad. They take precautions and aren’t going to sell Irken technology to enemies.” Dib raised a hand to play with an antenna.  
“So they were traitors to everyone? That makes sense. Now my last question was what you were going to do when the Tallest check on your progress.”  
“Lie. Zim did say they don’t actually care about this planet. They’re so desperate to keep me away they actually praised some of my awful plans.” He purred lightly as Dib continued to stroke his antennae. His eyes closed and he would have drifted off to sleep if Gir hadn’t chosen that time to bound in screaming.  
“I SENT THE GIRL AWAY MASTAH!” The little robot jumped onto the both of them, wiggling in between and yelling some more. “CAN WE HAVE PIZZA FOR DINNER?!”  
“GIR! Get off of MY Dib!”


End file.
